Precision Optics Corp. (NASDAQ:POCI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Precision Optics Corp. (NASDAQ:POCI) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 40,488 shares, an increase of 478.9% from the September 15th total of 6,994 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 111,412 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days.

Precision Optics Price Performance

Precision Optics stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.58. The stock had a trading volume of 14,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,100. Precision Optics has a one year low of $3.55 and a one year high of $6.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.24 million, a P/E ratio of -9.96 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4.38 and its 200 day moving average is $4.64.

Precision Optics (NASDAQ:POCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 28th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.05. Precision Optics had a negative return on equity of 23.92% and a negative net margin of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $8.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on POCI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Precision Optics to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precision Optics in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell”.

Institutional Trading of Precision Optics

A hedge fund recently raised its position in Precision Optics stock. Needham Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Precision Optics Corp. (NASDAQ:POCI) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 720,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 9.33% of Precision Optics worth $3,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Precision Optics

Precision Optics Corporation, Inc (NASDAQ: POCI) develops and manufactures advanced optical systems, instruments and components, with a primary focus on medical applications. The company works with medical-device manufacturers and other original equipment manufacturers to design and produce specialized optical solutions for visualization, imaging and minimally invasive procedures.

Its product offerings include rigid and flexible endoscopes, three-dimensional surgical visualization systems, laparoscopic and arthroscopic optics, fluorescence imaging technologies and custom optical assemblies.